To Storm the Gates of Hell
by BATstrider
Summary: It is 2020... Project E + 6 years. SEELE is alive, 3I never occurred, and Shinji chooses to lead the assault on NERV's parent organization... Before it strikes them. Rated PG-13 for gunplay(lots). Ch. 2 is through Shinji's POV. Please R/R, flames are welc


NERV Hospital  
Room 303  
December 4, 2020  
  
The small hospital room was quiet, save for the occasional beeps of  
the health monitors.  
  
Former Eva-pilot Shinji Ikari found the noise not unfamiliar; he had  
been in this room every week, every day, every free minute he could  
afford, for the past four years. The green glow of the equipment cast  
dark shadows around the room, and Shinji stared into these shadows as  
he quietly held the hand of the bed-ridden patient, his fellow ex-  
pilot, Asuka Langley Sohryu.  
  
The Second Child.  
  
The shadows were alive for him, feeling her cool, pale palm in his. The  
darkness showed him every good memory he had of the two of them  
together.  
  
Sadly, there were hardly enough to fill the gap in his empty soul.  
  
A small knock awoke him from his reverie.  
  
"Here again, huh?" asked Sub-Commander Misato Katsuragi, her red beret  
taken off in a sign of respect. She joined Shinji and looked at the  
still-comatose form of the former Second Child.  
  
"Of course, Misato-san," said Shinji softly. "It's her birthday."  
  
"I know," said Misato simply, without any trace of emotion. "Why do you  
think I'm here?"  
  
"A. You're really here for her birthday..."  
  
"Or.?" she asked.  
  
"B. You have an assignment for me."  
  
"What about C.?" Misato asked. " 'All of the above?' "  
  
"Fair enough," said Shinji, standing up and crossing over to the window  
that overlooked the Geofront.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"We've found SEELE's base of operations," she said, unwavering. "It's  
down south, on a jungle island two-hundred miles off the coast of Costa  
Rica."  
  
"What are we going to do?" asked Shinji, turning around to look at his  
former guardian.  
  
"We'll most likely assault the place," she said. "Normandy all over  
again."  
  
"Without the Evas, it's going to be a bloodbath," said Shinji  
thoughtfully.  
  
"I'm going."  
  
"You're staying here, Shin-kun," cried Misato, emotion finally creeping  
into her voice, tears forming in her eyes.  
"Asuka-chan needs someone to care for her. I'll lead the attack,  
Shinji. You have everything ahead of you. I've got nothing but a bullet  
and a bad conscience."  
  
"No," said Shinji firmly. "You have everything to live for. You can  
start over again."  
"Me and Asuka... Well, you know we've had our fair share of arguments.  
Father is dead, Project E is no more, and all that's left is to wipe  
out SEELE. Third Impact will not happen, I swear this on my life.  
Preventing that was my mother's goal. I'll make sure it goes the way  
she would've wanted."  
  
He flashed a grin, but it lacked all traces of humor whatsoever.  
  
"Besides, life is getting boring. I miss fighting things."  
  
Misato sniffed and wiped away one of her tears.  
  
"Shin-kun... You've changed."  
  
He wiped away the rest with a careful hand and kissed her lightly on  
the cheek.  
  
"I know, Misato. We all have. When does the operation begin?"  
  
"We move out in three hours, then strike at dawn," said Misato as  
Shinji checked his watch.  
  
11:00 PM.  
  
He leaned over, kissed Asuka on the forehead and, after a moment's  
pause, her lips.  
  
"Goodbye, I love you," whispered Shinji. He made for the door.  
  
"Correction, Misato-san," said the Third Child coolly, his hand on the  
doorknob.  
  
"I move out in three hours."  
  
Minutes after he left, Misato sobbed and laid her head on Asuka's bed.  
  
"W-why..." she whispered. "Why like this?"  
  
Another whisper, ever silent, cut the still air.  
  
"S-shin-kun..."  
  
NERV F-2025 VTOL jet  
Three miles of the coast of Isla De Morte  
December 5, 2020  
  
The air was alive with the banshee-shriek of the VTOL engines.  
  
That, and the whistling of the SEELE shore battery barrage. The 88mm  
cannons sounded off in succession, their accuracy never perfect but  
never off. The third NERV gunboat went up in flames that morning as a  
trio of shells hit the command tower, making the giant ship list  
sideways into the jade-green murky ocean water.  
SEELE F-2025s were there to counter those of NERV's, and the staccato  
clatter of Gatling guns could be heard over the ocean spray.  
  
It was hell.  
  
Shinji could do nothing but wait as he held his FN F-2000 assault rifle  
closer to his chest, the sights already zeroed, the grenade launcher  
loaded with a round of 40mm buckshot. The others around him were  
nervous, yet calm in a way, as they awaited their impending doom. Their  
weapons were held in vise-like grips.  
  
A very, very visible sign of tension.  
  
"All right!" yelled the crew chief. "We'll settle down for four  
seconds, then lift off. If you're ass isn't off by then, you're going  
back home."  
  
Some guys chuckled nervously, but Shinji said or did nothing as he tied  
a black bandana around his hair.  
  
"Thirty seconds!" yelled the crew chief. "God be with you!"  
  
Shinji noticed the tone of voice, and knew it was his turn.  
  
"All right boys," he called, "It's Judgment Day; them or us. Kill or be  
killed, and out here, you always shoot to kill. Understood?"  
  
There was a chorus of affirmatives.  
  
"If you remember your training, everything will be fine."  
  
Seeing the fast approaching beach, Shinji and the team tensed up and  
raised their weapons.  
  
"One last piece of advice!" barked Shinji. "Target the center... and  
pull the switch!"  
  
The VTOL landed with a hard thump, and the team let out a battle cry as  
they swarmed out like angry ants.  
  
They were greeted by machine-gun fire. 


End file.
